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The Try Anything Department

© Barbara J. Mitchell

Alternative medicine offers treatments for all sorts of chronic disease. Think of all the supposed cures for cancer its victims have pursued, sometimes at great expense, only to find they have no merit whatsoever. There are some alternative treatments that do seem to work, though, like some herbal remedies and acupuncture, so you need to do your research if you're considering any of them. That isn't always easy.

For instance, when I was in Chicago a few months ago I saw a piece on WLS-TV news about the use of radio frequency to help chronic head pain which resulted from trauma. The doctor in the piece was applying electrodes to the patient's neck. Later I contacted WLS to get information so I could follow up for this page, but they had no record of it. I was very tired that evening but I'm sure I didn't dream it, so if anyone knows where I can get more information, I'd appreciate your letting me know.

At any rate, WLS was eager to help, and they did tell me about another alternative treatment I had never heard of. It's called prolotherapy, and among the few practitioners of this treatment is Dr. Ross Hauser of Caring Medical and Rehabilitation Services in Oak Park, Illinois, which is why WLS was interested.

Prolotherapy involves injections of solutions to stimulate growth of fibrous tissue which would improve ligament strength and function because its practitioners believe some head pain is caused by weak ligaments in the neck. Dr. Hauser injects a solution made of plant extracts and minerals. Others use a solution of dextrose and sodium morrhuate (obtained from shark liver) or dextrose, glycerin and phenol. They claim the solutions cause an inflammatory response which stimulates tissue growth and thus the ligament becomes stronger.

I am indebted to Dr. Andrew Weil's web site for some disinterested information about prolotherapy. This isn't easy to locate. The other web sites I found were more like a sales pitch for this alternative treatment. There don't seem to be scientific studies available on whether prolotherapy actually works or not, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it until there is some proof that it's safe as well as effective.

All of which brings me to a question for you. I've noticed there are still people reading my January 11th article about feverfew, and I know more people than ever are interested in alternative medicine. This may be because, like me, they're fed up with paying such outrageous prices for prescription drugs and/or they're worried about what long-term use of such drugs is doing to their bodies.